ORLANDO, Fla. — A key decision is expected in the coming days for Orange County Public Schools as leaders consider whether to ask Orange County voters to approve the continuation of a half-penny sales tax to help maintain old schools and build new ones. 

What You Need To Know

  • Orange County Public Schools will decide next Tuesday if a half-penny sales tax should continue and be placed on the November ballot for voters to decide
  • The school board says 136 schools needed renovations or needed to be replaced since 2002 when the tax was first implemented
  • The tax will raise about $800 million in revenue to be used at area schools, OCPS said
  • Four schools are currently under construction or are being refurbished with the tax dollars

They’ll decide Tuesday if the proposal should be placed on the November ballot.

The tax would raise $800 million to refurbish old schools and continue building new ones for the next 10 years, officials said.

Chief Communications Officer for Orange County Public Schools Scott Howat said the tax has saved many public schools.

”Originally, we had a list of 136 schools that needed renovation, a major overhaul. So those schools are on the list. It was also needed for new schools,” Howat said.

In August 2002, a half-cent sales surtax, with an effective date of January 1, 2003, was approved by 59.3% of Orange County's voters, according to Howat.

The electors of Orange County approved the continuation of the surtax in 2014 by 64%.

“So, if it was not for that sales tax passing in 2002, we would have been just replacing those portables, not with permanent structures but just keeping portables that are meant to be temporary,” Howat said.

Howard Middle School, located at 800 E. Robinson St., is one of four schools being refurbished or being built new around Orange County, thanks to the tax.

The school, formally the original Orlando High School built in 1926, will cost taxpayers over $36 million to renovate.

The middle school project is expected to be completed in 2025.

“So we’re going to continue or ask the voters to have that half-penny sales tax for another 10 years. So that is what the board will bring before them on Tuesday,” Howat said.